star trek writer dc fontana

D.C. Fontana (1939-2019)

Script and continuity department.

IMDbPro Starmeter See rank

• 3 wins & 2 nominations

• 1987–1988 • 5 eps

• 1966–1969 • 11 eps

• 2006 • 1 ep

• 1969 • 1 ep

• Writer (as Dorothy Fontana)

• story by (as Dorothy Fontana)

• 20 episodes

• teleplay by
• consulting producer
• associate producer
• 12 episodes

• 22 episodes
• script consultant
• 31 episodes
• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• France's national library catalogue
• Star Trek_homage
• J. Michael Bingham
• March 25 , 1939
• Sussex, New Jersey, USA
• December 2 , 2019
• Los Angeles, California, USA (after a brief illness)
• Dennis Skotak October 17, 1981 - December 2, 2019 (her death)
• 2 Interviews

Did you know

• Trivia Was advised by Gene Roddenberry to use her initials (D.C.) on her initial scripts for Star Trek (1966) instead of her first name (Dorothy), because at the time, networks were often biased against female writers. She ended up becoming one of the show's most prolific writers with 11 episodes to her name, as well as contributing to several Star Trek spin-off series.
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D.C. Fontana

D.C. Fontana ( 25 March 1939 – 2 December 2019 ; age 80) was a writer and script editor who had the distinction of being one of the few people to have worked on Star Trek: The Original Series , as well as Star Trek: The Animated Series , Star Trek: The Next Generation , and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Deep Space Nine was her favorite Star Trek spinoff. She especially liked the show's strong characters. When writing, Fontana often used pseudonyms, including Michael Richards and J. Michael Bingham .

Fontana worked as a writer for a few television series before Star Trek , then briefly worked as Gene Roddenberry 's secretary, before she became a writer on the show. The first episode she penned was " Charlie X ", based on a premise by Roddenberry entitled "The Day Charlie Became God". Fontana wrote several notable Original Series episodes, including " Tomorrow is Yesterday " and " Journey to Babel ". Also, after the departure of Steven W. Carabatsos , she was promoted to story editor (after successfully re-writing " This Side of Paradise "). At the age of 27, Fontana became the youngest story editor in Hollywood at the time, and also one of the few female staff writers. ( Star Trek: The Original Series 365 , introduction) She remained in this capacity until the end of the second season .

She left the story editor position before the third season went into production: " I had told Gene Roddenberry that I did not wish to continue on Star Trek as story editor because I wanted to freelance and write for other series. I did, however, want to continue to do scripts for Star Trek . Gene was agreeable to this, and I was given a contract in February of 1968 which called for a guarantee of three scripts, with an option for three more. Whenever anyone has asked why I chose to leave Star Trek 's story editorship, I have always given this reply. " [1]

However, Fontana was very unhappy with the rewrites done on her third season scripts, including " The Enterprise Incident " and " The Way to Eden " (originally submitted as "Joanna" by Fontana, featuring Doctor McCoy 's daughter ). [2]

Fontana's other noticeable contribution to The Original Series was her discovery and introduction to Gene Roddenberry of costume designer William Ware Theiss . [3] During her years on the Original Series she was an active contributor to the officially endorsed fanzine Inside Star Trek , for which she conducted interviews with several key production staffers, most notably the one with Theiss, the only published one on record.

Four years after the end of the Original Series , she became the associate producer and story editor of Star Trek: The Animated Series , for which she also wrote the episode " Yesteryear ".

In early October 1986, nearly two decades after leaving the original Star Trek , Fontana, together with her Original Series co-workers David Gerrold , Edward K. Milkis , and Robert H. Justman , were brought back by Roddenberry to form the original production nucleus to help out with the pre-production of Star Trek: The Next Generation . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , pp. 9-11) Serving as Associate Producer on the first thirteen episodes of the first season , Fontana was – along with Gerrold – mainly responsible for being a story editor and story consultant. She co-wrote the pilot, " Encounter at Farpoint " with Roddenberry, earning a Hugo Award nomination, co-invented the " LCARS " concept, and wrote four other episodes of the season, before departing (along with all the Original Series production staff veterans) due to the meddlings of Roddenberry's lawyer, Leonard Maizlish . Unlike her fellow writer Gerrold, Fontana had chosen not to elaborate on the conditions under which she had left the production; that was until 2014, when she unequivocally identified Maizlish as the malefactor for her decision to do so, in William Shatner 's documentary, William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge . Then Research Consultant, Richard Arnold confirmed in the documentary, " I think he [Maizlish] thought he was speaking with Gene's voice, but I think Gene never heard the way he spoke to other people. Gene had these wonderful relationships with people who worked with him on the Original Series, like Dorothy Fontana, and Leonard was horrible to Dorothy. "

Returning to the live-action franchise for a short time later on, she also penned DS9 : " Dax ", her last involvement with Star Trek , in which a great deal of Jadzia Dax ' backstory was fleshed out. In the DS9 episode " Far Beyond the Stars ", the character Kay Eaton , who had to pose as a male to get her science fiction stories published, was an homage to Fontana. The Enterprise episode " First Flight " also honored her work on the episode " Tomorrow is Yesterday " by including her name (along with that of the episode's director, Michael O'Herlihy , on a mission patch for the Earth-Saturn probe (a copy of which was sent to Fontana by Michael Okuda ).

In 2006, she gave an interview in Star Trek Magazine  issue 128 , pp. 42-48 in which she talked about writing for three Star Trek series. She notes how unhappy she was with the way Roddenberry re-wrote the episodes they wrote together. She used the pseudonym "J. Michael Bingham" for " The Naked Now ", as she was especially unhappy with the episode. She liked writing " Dax " much more.

Outside of Trek , Fontana wrote scripts for dozens of shows, including Babylon 5 and Earth: Final Conflict . In a 1974 episode scripted for The Six Million Dollar Man , "The Rescue of Athena One", Fontana pays homage to Star Trek by having Lee Majors' character of Colonel Steve Austin speak the line " Space… it really is the final frontier, isn't it? " In 1974, she wrote the novelization of Roddenberry's TV pilot The Questor Tapes In 1977, she served as story editor for Logan's Run , which featured scripts written by a number of Original Series alumni including Harlan Ellison and John Meredyth Lucas (Fontana also co-wrote several episodes herself). The series featured a character named Rem, a sentient, very Human-like android. The character was not in the original film or novel but it bore a strong resemblance to Roddenberry's earlier Questor character, and elements of Rem were later incorporated into the character of Data in TNG.

Fontana wrote the stories of the video games Star Trek: Bridge Commander , Star Trek: Legacy and Star Trek: Tactical Assault all with Derek Chester, and an episode of the fan production Star Trek: New Voyages , the episode "To Serve All My Days" in 2006, on which she worked alongside Jack Treviño and Ethan H. Calk . She also contributed the basic concept for the unpublished video game Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury . When the game was cancelled, she still wanted to tell the story as a novel. [4]

• 1 Star Trek credits
• 2 Hugo Award nomination
• 3 Bibliography
• 4 Outside Star Trek
• 5 Star Trek interviews
• 6 External links

Star Trek credits [ ]

• " Charlie X " (teleplay)
• " Tomorrow is Yesterday "
• " This Side of Paradise " (teleplay; story with Nathan Butler )
• " Friday's Child "
• " Journey to Babel "
• " By Any Other Name " (teleplay with Jerome Bixby )
• " The Ultimate Computer " (teleplay)
• " The Enterprise Incident "
• " That Which Survives " (story, as Michael Richards)
• " The Way to Eden " (story with Arthur Heinemann , as Michael Richards)
• TAS : " Yesteryear "
• " Encounter at Farpoint " (with Gene Roddenberry )
• " The Naked Now " (teleplay; story with John D.F. Black , as J. Michael Bingham)
• " Lonely Among Us " (teleplay)
• " Too Short A Season " (teleplay with Michael Michaelian )
• " Heart of Glory " (story with Maurice Hurley and Herbert Wright )
• DS9 : " Dax " (teleplay with Peter Allan Fields )

Hugo Award nomination [ ]

• 1988 Hugo Award nomination in the category Best Dramatic Presentation for TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", shared with Gene Roddenberry and Corey Allen

Bibliography [ ]

• Behind the camera: John Dwyer – issue 1, July 1968, pp. 12-14
• Behind the camera: William Ware Theiss – issue 6, December 1968, pp. 5-8 and issue 7, January 1969, pp. 4-8
• Behind the camera: Charles Washburn – issue 9, March 1969, pp. 3-6
• Behind the camera: Walter M. Jefferies – issue 12, June 1969, pp. 2-5
• Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles and the Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek (2006) – collaborator
• Star Trek: The Original Series 365 (2010) – preface
• Vulcan's Glory (1989)
• Star Trek: Year Four - The Enterprise Experiment (2008)

Outside Star Trek [ ]

• The ABC Afternoon Playbreak: Season 2, Episode 2: A Special Act of Love (starring Diana Muldaur ) (1973)
• The Questor Tapes (1974)
• Logan's Run (story editor) (1977-78)

Star Trek interviews [ ]

• The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 2 , p. 8, "For the Love of Star Trek ", interviewed by Edward Gross
• William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge , 2014

External links [ ]

• D.C. Fontana, 1939-2019 at StarTrek.com
• D.C. Fontana at the Internet Movie Database
• D.C. Fontana at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• D.C. Fontana at SF-Encyclopedia.com
• Interview at EmmyTVLegends.org
• Remembering Legendary STAR TREK Writer D.C. Fontana at TrekCore
• D.C. Fontana at the ISBN Database
• D.C. Fontana at Wikipedia
• 1 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)
• 3 Daniels (Crewman)

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D.C. Fontana, First Female ‘Star Trek’ Writer, Dies at 80

Ms. Fontana, who was part of the “Star Trek” universe from its early days, was best known for her work on Spock, the half-human, half-Vulcan Starfleet officer portrayed by Leonard Nimoy.

By Liam Stack

D.C. Fontana, who helped craft the lore of the 1960s television series “Star Trek” and developed one of its signature characters, Spock, as the show’s first female writer, died on Tuesday at a hospital in Burbank, Calif. She was 80.

Her husband and only immediate survivor, Dennis Skotak, said the cause was cancer.

Ms. Fontana was part of the “Star Trek" universe from its early days, working alongside the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry , as a story editor and writer.

The original series, which had its premiere in 1966, introduced audiences to Captain Kirk, the United Federation of Planets and the Starship Enterprise. But Ms. Fontana was best known among fans for her work on Spock, the half-human, half-Vulcan Starfleet officer portrayed by Leonard Nimoy.

Spock was torn between the emotionality of his human side and a Vulcan’s zealous commitment to logic. That narrative tension powered much of the series and several of the feature films that followed.

“From Day 1 she was there helping Gene, in the early days, as a confidante,” Mr. Skotak said. “Captain Kirk always found a way to solve whatever problem they were facing — using Dorothy’s words in a lot of cases,” using Ms. Fontana’s given name.

In a 2013 interview with StarTrek.com , the franchise’s official website, Ms. Fontana said she thought her greatest contribution to the franchise had been “primarily the development of Spock as a character and Vulcan as a history/background/culture from which he sprang.”

She fleshed out the character’s back story as the child of a human mother and a Vulcan father while she was a story editor and associate producer for “ Star Trek: The Animated Series ” in the 1970s. She later wrote, with Mr. Roddenberry, the pilot that launched “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1987.

Dorothy Catherine Fontana was born on March 25, 1939, in Sussex, N.J. She was raised by a single mother in Totowa, N.J., and dreamed of becoming a novelist, she said in an interview with the Writers Guild Foundation in 2014.

After high school, she studied to become a secretary at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. She told the foundation that she had thought that clerical work would be a good day job for an aspiring novelist, but that her goals had changed when she became a secretary at Columbia Pictures’ television arm, which was based in New York.

“I was seeing scripts come across our desks for the various shows we had on the air at the time and I thought, ‘I can write this,’ like so many fools before me,” she said. “I had watched television for years and years and kind of got the idea of how stories were structured.”

When her boss died of a heart attack, leaving her jobless after just two months, she decided to move to California, in December 1959, to see if she could break into television writing. She achieved early success selling scripts to western series , which were popular in the early 1960s, including “The Tall Man,” “Shotgun Slade” and “Frontier Circus.”

Ms. Fontana told StarTrek.com in 2013 that her big break came when she was hired to be the secretary to Del Reisman, the associate producer of a show called “The Lieutenant.” She was soon reassigned to work for another producer, whose secretary had been hospitalized for two months because of complications from an appendectomy: Gene Roddenberry.

When “The Lieutenant” went off the air, Mr. Roddenberry sold “Star Trek” to Desilu Productions and asked Ms. Fontana to work for him there as a production secretary. But her role soon expanded.

“She would read the scripts and retype them and things like that,” Mr. Skotak said. “Then she thought, ‘I should try writing these, because I have some ideas.’”

Mr. Roddenberry recognized her ambition, as well as her record of writing for westerns, and asked her to pick which story she wanted to write from the production outline for “Star Trek’s” first season. Her first script, about the ship’s encounter with a mysterious human teenager who possesses strange powers, became the series’ second episode.

Ms. Fontana wrote for all three seasons of the original series. She later wrote for other science fiction shows, including “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “Babylon 5,” as well as influential series outside that genre like “Bonanza,” “Dallas” and “The Waltons.”

In her later years, Ms. Fontana taught at the American Film Institute. Mr. Skotak, her husband, a special effects designer, said she had continued to teach at the institute until just a few weeks before her death.

“She was a very, very tough lady,” he said. “She carried a phaser with her right up to the end.”

Speaking to StarTrek.com in 2013, Ms. Fontana reflected on what it was like to be a female writer in Hollywood in the 1960s. While working on “Star Trek,” she said, she did not realize that she had gone where no woman had gone before.

“At the time, I wasn’t especially aware there were so few female writers doing action adventure scripts,” she said. “There were plenty doing soaps, comedies, or on variety shows. By choosing to do action adventure, I was in an elite, very talented and very different group of women writers.”

Liam Stack is a general assignment reporter. He was previously a political reporter based in New York and a Middle East correspondent based in Cairo. More about Liam Stack

'Star Trek' Writer D.C. Fontana Dies at Age of 80

" Star Trek " writer/producer Dorothy Catherine "D.C." Fontana has died at the age of 80 following a brief illness, according to  StarTrek.com .

Fontana is best known as one of Star Trek's foundational writers, working with creator Gene Roddenberry on the original series and establishing key franchise elements such as Vulcan culture. She wrote 10 episodes of the original series, and was its story editor. She was brought back for "Star Trek: The Next Generation," co-writing the pilot with Roddenberry and going on to solo write episodes of that series and " Deep Space Nine ."

In 2008, IDW Publishing recruited Fontana to write a comic book sequel to her "Star Trek" episode "The Enterprise Incident" titled " Star Trek: Year Four — The Enterprise Experiment ."

Other shows Fontana wrote for include "Babylon 5," "Ben Casey," "Bonanza," "The Six Million Dollar Man," "Logan's Run," "He-Man & The Masters of the Universe," and "Beast Wars: Transformers." Most recently she was a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute.

She is survived by her husband Dennis Skotak.

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Originally published on  Newsarama . 

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D.C. Fontana, who helped shape 'Star Trek' as its first woman writer, dies at 80

D.C. Fontana, the pioneering TV writer who significantly shaped the "Star Trek" universe, in particular the character of Spock and his home planet, Vulcan, has died at 80.

Fontana died Monday night after a brief illness, the American Film Institute, where Fontana was a senior lecturer, said in a statement. CBS Studios and the "Star Trek" production company confirmed the announcement.

No further details were made public.

Dorothy Catherine Fontana — she used her initials, "D.C.," so producers during the 1960s wouldn't know she was a woman — was perhaps second only to Gene Roddenberry, the series' creator, in molding the sprawling "Star Trek" story-telling empire.

Fontana, the first female writer on the show, wrote or co-wrote some of the most notable episodes of the original series, which ran from 1966 to 1969, and, with Roddenberry, co-wrote the pilot for its revival as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987.

"The galaxy will miss you," Dan and Kevin Hageman, the developers of a CBS/Nickelodeon animated "Star Trek" series scheduled to debut next year, said on Twitter.

So sad to lose D.C. Fontana. She will always be a huge voice in the Star Trek universe. The galaxy will miss you. pic.twitter.com/cFlx0fOMku — Dan & Kevin Hageman (@brothershageman) December 3, 2019

Michael Okuda, a graphic designer on several of the "Star Trek" properties beginning in the 1980s, said he was "heartbroken."

" Dorothy Fontana brought humanity to the world of Star Trek ," Okuda said Tuesday on Twitter, adding: "Star Trek's universe just got a little bit smaller with the passing of D.C. Fontana."

Fontana started as Roddenberry's secretary when he created the TV series "The Lieutenant," which ran for one season. When he created "Star Trek," he assigned her to write the teleplay for the series' second episode, "Charlie X," about a teenage boy with special powers who creates chaos aboard the USS Enterprise after he is rescued from a crashed cargo ship.

Fontana was especially significant in developing the character of Mr. Spock, the half-Vulcan, half-human science officer who struggles to repress his emotions.

" Spock kind of spoke to me because of his problematic interior," she said in a 2016 interview with the SyFy network. "'How do I be a Vulcan? How do I be a human?'"

Fontana further fleshed out Spock in the episode "Journey to Babel," which introduced the characters of his Vulcan father and his human mother, who would appear throughout the "Star Trek" stories personifying the warring halves of their son's interior life.

"I began to speculate what kind of Vulcan would marry a human, what kind of relationship did they have to each other and to their son," she said in an interview during the early 2000s with the comic book historian Marv Wolfman.

When, after almost 20 years, Roddenberry revived "Star Trek" on the small screen under the name "The Next Generation," he personally assigned Fontana to develop the teleplay for the pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint."

In a 2007 interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said she chose to include an unannounced appearance by DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy from the original series "because I thought we should have a connection with the old show ."

Fontana wrote two more episodes of "The Next Generation," along with episodes or stories for another "Star Trek" spinoff, "Deep Space Nine," as well as "Star Trek" video games and animated series.

Her other credits included dozens of episodes of other series, like "Bonanza," "The High Chaparral," "Kung Fu," "The Waltons" and "Dallas." But her primary work was in science fiction.

In addition to the "Star Trek" franchise, she was credited with writing or co-writing numerous episodes of "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Fantastic Journey," "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," "The War of the Worlds," "Babylon 5," "Earth: Final Conflict" and, notably, "Logan's Run," for which she was the story editor.

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Her last writing credit was for "To Serve All My Days," a 2006 episode of the web series "Star Trek: New Voyages," in which Walter Koenig reprised his role as Chekhov from the original "Star Trek" series and movies.

In recent years, Fontana had been a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute. She was twice awarded lifetime honors by the Writers Guild of America, in 1997 and 2002.

She is survived by her husband, the Academy Award-winning visual effects cinematographer Dennis Skotak.

‘Star Trek’ Writer D.C. Fontana Dies at 80

By Cynthia Littleton

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Dorothy Catherine Fontana, a writer on the original “ Star Trek ” series who had a long association with the franchise, died Dec. 2. She was 80.

Fontana’s death was confirmed by the official “Star Trek” website, which described her as “the legendary writer who brought many of ‘Star Trek’s’ greatest episodes to life.” The website reported that she died after a brief illness but offered no other details.

Fontana was active in the Writers Guild of America for many years, and most recently worked as a lecturer for the American Film Institute.

A native of New Jersey, Fontana was the rare example of a female scribe on the original NBC edition of the enduring sci-fi franchise, although she used the gender-blind screen credit of “D.C. Fontana.” She was credited with creating key elements of the “Star Trek” mythos, including the details on the backstory of Mr. Spock’s upbringing by his human mother Amanda and Vulcan father Sarek.

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All told, Fontana had writing credits on 11 episodes of the original “Star Trek,” which ran for three seasons from 1966-69. The list included the standout 1967 installments “Journey to Babel” (which introduces Spock’s parents) and “This Side of Paradise” (in which Spock and other members of the Enterprise crew get goofy after being sprayed with flower spores). Some of Fontana’s episodes were credited to a pseudonym Michael Richards.

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Fontana decided to mask her gender with her screen credit in order to avoid discrimination as she sought work in what was then a decidedly male-dominated business. Her introduction to TV writing came after she landed a job as a secretary to Roddenberry in 1961.

“I wrote a ‘Ben Casey’ spec script, with the byline ‘D.C. Fontana,’ ” Fontana told NorthJersey.com in 2016. “Figuring they can’t turn me down because I’m a woman, because they wouldn’t know. And I had my agent turn it in, and it was bought. From then on I thought, ‘You know what, this is the best way to go. I’m going to go with D.C. Fontana.’ “

Fontana went on to work as a writer and associate producer on the 1970s animated “Star Trek” series. In 1987 she teamed with “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry to write “Encounter at Farpoint,” the two-hour premiere episode for “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” She wrote additional episodes of “Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” She also penned “Star Trek”-themed novels, including “Questor Tapes” and “Vulcan’s Glory.”

Writers on the latest incarnation of the “Star Trek” universe — “Star Trek: Discovery” — paid tribute to Fontana, calling her “a huge part of the Trek family” in a tweet.

We're sad to hear of the passing of Dorothy Catherine "D.C." Fontana. She was a remarkable writer and a huge part of the Trek family, having worked on TOS, TAS, TNG, and DS9. https://t.co/m3TOewrQVv https://t.co/SWz4i2KWWf — Discovery Writers (@StarTrekRoom) December 3, 2019

Earlier in her career, Fontana penned episodes of such series as “The Wild Wild West” and “Ben Casey.” After the original “Star Trek” ended, she worked on a range of 1970s primetime series including “The Streets of San Francisco,” “Bonanza,” “Kung Fu,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Logan’s Run,” “The Waltons” and “Dallas.”

Fontana was feted for her years of service to the WGA with honorary awards in 1997 and 2002.

Fontana is survived by her husband, cinematographer Dennis Skotak. The family requests that donations be made in Fontana’s name to the Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society or the American Film Institute.

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D.C. Fontana, Pioneering 'Star Trek' Writer, Dies At 80

D.C. Fontana, a pioneering screenwriter famous for her work with Star Trek, died this week. NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Jarrah Hodge, co-host of the podcast "Women at Warp" about Fontana's legacy.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

‘Star Trek’ writer D.C. Fontana, who fought to find work in male-dominated Hollywood, dies

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D.C. Fontana, who overcame Hollywood’s sexism to become a writer and story editor for the original “Star Trek” television series and later a contributor to “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” has died after a brief illness.

Fontana died Tuesday, said family friend Fran Evans. She was 80.

Dorothy Catherine Fontana, who used the initials D.C. after struggling to find work in a male-dominated industry, had befriended “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and rose from secretary to story editor for the 1960s show.

RIP Dorothy Catherine “DC” Fontana, 1939-2019. It is impossible to calculate the positive effects of DC Fontana’s work on STAR TREK and many other projects. A tireless fighter for fairness and diversity — She will be greatly missed. pic.twitter.com/gOYYz8foA2 — Emmett Initiative (@Emm_Initiative) December 3, 2019

Her credits included such episodes as “Journey to Babel” and “Friday’s Child,” and Leonard Nimoy would praise her for broadening the back story of Mr. Spock’s Vulcan culture. William Shatner, who starred as Capt. James T. Kirk, tweeted that Fontana was a “pioneer” and added that “her work will continue to influence for generations to come.”

A native of Sussex, N.J., Fontana worked on a wide range of other TV shows including “Bonanza,” “Dallas” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as well as the webseries “Star Trek: New Voyages.” She also wrote the “Star Trek” novel “Vulcan’s Glory,” about Spock’s first mission on the Enterprise.

Later in life, she was a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute and served as a Writers Guild of America board member.

Fontana is survived by her husband, cinematographer Dennis Skotak.

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Dorothy 'D.C.' Fontana gave the the original Star Trek its human heart

Credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images

Writer Dorothy "D.C." Fontana died Monday at the age of 80 . But her humanistic science fiction creations will live on in the form of Spock's family from the original Star Trek and The Next Generation crew in "Encounter at Farpoint." If not for Fontana, the Trek franchise would never have become the tender and relatable futuristic world we know today.

It's nearly impossible to quantify her importance to Trek and popular science fiction as a whole, but we can try.

When people speak in reverent tones about the optimism and prescient science fiction progressivism of Star Trek , original series creator Gene Roddenberry gets a lot of credit for crafting that hopeful status quo we'd all like to be beamed into. But when it came to making the characters who populated that future world believable people, the Star Trek franchise wouldn't have achieved orbit without the talents and insight of D.C Fontana.

Whether you're a longtime fan who can quote from classic '60s episodes in your sleep, or you've become a Star Trek person thanks to the thrilling adventures on Discovery , Fontana is largely responsible for creating a bedrock of real and humanistic qualities at the core of Trek . If you're someone who gets emotional thinking about Spock's family or Jean-Luc Picard's confidence , D.C. Fontana is the writer responsible for you feeling the way you do.

For the original Star Trek , Fontana carried the title of "script editor," but in reality, if it's an episode that is memorable for being emotionally complex, there's a chance Fontana had something to do with the writing, even if the teleplay doesn't have her name on it. Most famously, it was Fontana who did uncredited rewrites on Harlan Ellison 's script for "City on the Edge of Forever," which helped turn a devastating time-travel premise into something that had emotional heft.

In the 2016 Star Trek oral history book The Fifty-Year Mission , Fontana made it clear that the relationships between the central characters were her primary concern, not sci-fi gimmicks: "The [episodes] that didn't go well were stories that were against objects without human relationships involved somewhere in the story."

Spock's family in "Joureny to Babel" (Credit: CBS)

In terms of human relationships, perhaps Fontana's biggest contribution to Star Trek canon was the episode "Journey to Babel," which is the first onscreen appearance of Spock's Vulcan father Sarek (Mark Lenard) and his human mother Amanda Grayson (Jane Wyatt). When I interviewed Fontana about her invention of Amanda earlier this year, she told me how she approached writing Amanda as an "outspoken woman."

"She wouldn't just bow down to Sarek," Fontana explained. "She [would] state her positions and her point of view—and definitely her role in Spock's upbringing — especially if Sarek had to be away on ambassador trips to other planets. As a strong woman, she would mark her position in Spock's life and fulfill it."

This legacy is clearly evident in contemporary portrayals of Amanda Grayson; both Winona Ryder in the 2009 Star Trek film and Mia Kirshner in Star Trek: Discovery embody Fontana's conception of Amanda Grayson in ways that weren't even possible in the 1960s version of Trek . And although Fontana didn't write for either Discovery or the 21st-century films, she did continue the Trek tradition of creating real and thoughtful characters well into The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine .

Along with series creator Gene Roddenberry, Fontana co-wrote the very first episode of The Next Generation , "Encounter at Farpoint." In the documentary Chaos on the Bridge , Fontana basically gives Roddenberry credit for creating the space god "Q," but everything else — including the tone of the interpersonal relationships among Crusher, Picard, Riker, Data, Tasha, Troi, Geordi, and Worf — seemingly came from her. And her Deep Space Nine script, "Dax" (co-written with Peter Allan Fields), helped establish the multifaceted nature of Jadzia Dax.

Dax (Terry Farrell) faces her complicated past in this classic season 1 'Deep Space Nine' episode. (Credit: CBS)

D.C. Fontana was capable of writing characters of any gender and making their relationships feel real. Even if the wobbly sets of the '60s Trek pushed the show's credibility to the limit, it was offset by Fontana's ability to project warm and intelligent human relationships into the cold vacuum of space. Kirk and Spock's epic friendship (which Fontana once told me was "just" a friendship) wouldn't exist and wouldn't matter to people if it weren't for her contributions. When you watch baby Spock struggle with his emotions in either J.J. Abrams' first Trek film or the second season of Discovery , what you're seeing is essentially a remix of what Fontana did in her brilliant time-travel script "Yesteryear," an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series that should be required viewing for all fans.

Though Star Trek will forever be famous for weaving political allegory side by side with well-crafted science fiction, the reason the franchise continues is that the fans want to know the characters they see onscreen. Both Captain Pike and Michael Burnham refer to Starfleet as their "family" in Discovery , but the woman who created that family, and imbued it with love, was most certainly Dorothy Fontana.

When I interviewed Fontana around the 50th anniversary of Star Trek in 2016, she told me the secret to success in writing the series, and it's so simple that only a true artist would say something like this:

"We wanted to do stories that had strength, emotional content, and stories that would live," she said. "I think we succeeded."

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Published Mar 25, 2023

6 Iconic Star Trek Episodes by D.C. Fontana

From 'Journey to Babel' to 'Dax,' here are some of the writer's best contributions to the franchise.

StarTrek.com

The mind behind many great Star Trek episodes, Dorothy Fontana — who wrote under the name D.C. Fontana — delved into Vulcan and Romulan culture, explored AI, and even received a Hugo Award nomination for co-writing the series premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation , “ Encounter at Farpoint ” with Gene Roddenberry.

It’s worth noting that Fontana helped blaze new trails for female writers. Star Trek has always had plenty of women shaping the stories told on-screen. Star Trek: The Original Series , produced in the 1960s, had 22.5% of the episodes written by women , a statistic that shines compared to series with very few women behind the scenes. Star Trek has always pushed for representation in front of and behind the camera, and Fontana is owed a debt of gratitude for breaking the glass ceiling for others to follow her.

From Amanda and Sarek to the creation of Q, to her pioneering presence in the world of television, Fontana’s work helped shape Star Trek into what we know and love. Today we’re honoring the woman behind the scripts by looking back at six of her most iconic episodes.

"Journey to Babel"

Perhaps Fontana’s most iconic episode, “ Journey to Babel ” focused on Spock’s family life as well as Federation politics. This episode introduces us to Sarek and Amanda, Spock’s parents. Sarek embodies the quintessential logical Vulcan, while Amanda is deeply human. They personify both sides of Spock’s personality, giving depth to the conflict in him that has driven many an episode.

There’s a lot to love about this particular episode, from the Federation intrigue to the Vulcan family dynamics, but at its best, it showcases how skillfully Fontana can navigate drama both epic and personal. We want to know who murdered the ambassador and how the Enterprise will escape danger, but we also are eager to know how Spock will reconcile his human and Vulcan sides.

"The Ultimate Computer"

Can a computer run a starship in the same way a human captain can? Fontana grappled with high sci-fi concepts in “ The Ultimate Computer ,” in which a scientist installs a computer on the Enterprise to see if it can run the ship better than its assigned Starfleet captain. Kirk is dismayed and then finds himself in a battle of wits with the computer when it destroys a fellow Federation vessel.

Fontana has proven herself to be adept at human and Vulcan drama, but this episode showcases her skills as a science fiction writer. She deftly tackled the idea of having a computer run a starship and the ways in which that could be potentially dangerous. Even with the high science fiction concepts running through the episode, she sneaks in the humanity that makes her work and Star Trek stand out. Spock does say, after all, that a computer cannot inspire loyalty in the same way a human captain can, and we all know that loyalty (and dilithium crystals) is what truly powers a starship.

"The Enterprise Incident"

Who doesn’t love some good, old-fashioned Romulan intrigue? Fontana explored not only Romulan culture but the ongoing battle between the Federation and the Romulans in “ The Enterprise Incident ,” with a special twist. The commander who is in charge of the Romulan vessel is a woman and a kickass commander at that! This episode marked the first time a woman was in command of a starship, setting the ground for future female commanders from all parts of the Star Trek universe.

As per usual, Fontana tackles sci-fi grandeur with emotional intimacy. We get Kirk disguising himself as a Romulan to steal information as Spock romances the Romulan commander, giving us plenty of emotional drama amidst the intrigue that keeps us glued to our screens.

"Yesteryear"

From Star Trek: The Animated Series , “ Yesteryear ” saw Spock travel through time to save his younger self from dying, thereby preventing an alternate timeline where he was never the first officer of the Enterprise due to his untimely death. Fontana took viewers back to the famed planet of the time vortex, where “ City On the Edge Of Forever ” took place, to allow Spock to revisit his past and ultimately save himself.

We get a look at Spock’s youth in the episode, as well as the steps that he would take to become the Starfleet officer we know from Star Trek: The Original Series . Again, even with timeline-shattering stakes, Fontana manages to highlight the personal drama. We want to know about how Spock will save himself and the path his younger self travels to become the character we’re familiar with. This episode is a fun ride for Spock fans.

"Encounter at Farpoint"

In this Hugo-nominated episode, the crew of the Enterprise-D set out on her maiden voyage, led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Facing off against Q as humanity is put on trial, Picard’s compassion is what saves the crew and humanity, even as Q tells him he will fail. The episode features away missions and a giant space jellyfish creature, which showcase Fontana’s sci-fi skills. Nothing feels surprising or impossible based on the rules of the universe established, and she and Roddenberry weave their narrative together well.

There’s also a strong emotional component as well. One key scene is an elderly Admiral McCoy being escorted through the halls of the Enterprise-D by Data. “Treat her like a lady, and she’ll always bring you home,” McCoy tells Data in a soft moment, highlighting the importance of the Enterprise and her history. Again, the humanity keeps the sci-fi grounded, showing Fontana’s many talents and highlighting the true nature of Trek .

In the only Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode co-written by Fontana, " Dax ," she delves into courtroom drama as Jadzia Dax is put on trial for a crime potentially committed by previous host Curzon. The episode explores the morality of the Deep Space Nine characters, showing their complexities and their conflicts. The idea of a symbiont having to face justice for a crime committed while their host remains innocent is fascinating, and very heavy science fiction, and yet Fontana frames it with elegance and accessibility by grounding it in the very human stories of Jadzia and the rest of the crew.

Fontana’s strength has always been grounding her high-concept science fiction stories with deeply human plots. By allowing us the ability to empathize and understand a character, we’ll also believe the stories we’re being told about them facing evil computers or scheming Romulans. The Star Trek universe is a little less bright without her, but we’re sure her memory and impact will truly remind us of the best of Trek storytelling throughout the years to come.

This article was originally published on December 4, 2019.

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

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D.c. fontana, pioneering ‘star trek’ writer, dies at 80.

Dorothy Catherine "D.C." Fontana, the first female writer for 'Star Trek' who created a number of classic episodes, has died, according to the sci-fi property's official site. She was 80.

By Ryan Parker , Aaron Couch December 3, 2019 11:18am

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Dorothy Catherine “D.C.” Fontana, the first female writer for Star Trek who penned a number of classic episodes, has died Monday evening following a short illness, according to the science fiction property’s official site . She was 80.

A trailblazer for female writers in sci-fi television, Fontana crafted numerous stories for the original Star Trek TV series, including 1967’s “Journey to Babel,” which introduced Spock’s father Sarek and mother Amanda. The episode was credited with allowing audiences to see Star Trek ‘s characters as more than just their jobs but as actual people.

Fontana also went on to work on the animated series, and she penned the classic 1973 episode “Yesteryear,” in which Spock travels back in time to rescue a younger version of himself.

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In 1987, Fontana helped launch a new era of Star Trek when she co-wrote “Encounter at Farpoint , ” the two-part pilot for Star Trek: The Next Generation , which introduced the world to Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard and earned a Hugo nomination, which she shared with co-writer and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.

“She was a pioneer. Her work will continue to influence for generations to come,” William Shatner said Tuesday via Twitter.

Fontana wrote under the name “D.C.” to help prevent discrimination based on her gender when submitting pitches around Hollywood. She already was a working writer who had sold a few scripts when she first met Roddenberry, who at the time was overseeing the NBC military series  The Lieutenant . In 1963, Fontana was working as a production secretary to one of the producers of The   Lieutenant , and she ended up reporting directly to Roddenberry when his secretary was hospitalized for two months.

Soon after, Roddenberry brought her along to Star Trek to work as his production secretary and asked her to choose a story to write for season one. “Charlie X,” an episode about the Enterprise picking up an unstable teen boy with powerful mental abilities,   would become her first sci-fi credit and would make her a rare breed at the time: a woman who wrote sci-fi TV stories.

“At the time, I wasn’t especially aware there were so few female writers doing action adventure scripts,” Fontana recalled in 2013. “There were plenty doing soaps, comedies, or on variety shows. By choosing to do action adventure, I was in an elite, very talented and very different group of women writers.”

She also contributed to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and worked on the web series Star Trek: New Voyages . In addition to Star Trek , Fontana’s credit included such shows as  The Waltons ,  Bonanza  and  The Six Million Dollar Man , among others.

In recent years, she worked as a lecturer in the Screenwriting department at the American Film Institute Conservatory. At the end of her writing classes, Fontana would often pose a single question to her MFA students and invite them to respond verbally or follow-up with an answer after class. The question was “Why write?” Many students found this to be critical to their education and self-development.

Fontana was nominated for a WGA Award for co-writing an episode of the 1969-70 NBC series  Then Came Bronson . The WGA honored her with the Morgan Cox Award in 1997 and and 2002.

She is survived by her husband, Oscar-winning visual effects artist Dennis Skotak.

Trilby Beresford contributed to this report. 

Dec. 3, 1:02 p.m. A previous version misspelled the name of Spock’s father, Sarek.

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'Star Trek' Writer, Story Editor DC Fontana Dead at Age 80

Her credits included such "star trek" episodes as "journey to babel" and "friday's child", published on december 4, 2019 at 6:29 pm.

D.C. Fontana, a writer and story editor for the original "Star Trek" television series and later a contributor to "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and other related projects, has died at age 80.

Fran Evans, a family friend, told The Associated Press that she died Tuesday after a brief illness.

Dorothy Catherine Fontana, who used the initials D.C. after struggling to find work in a male-dominated industry, had befriended "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and rose from secretary to story editor for the 1960s show. Her credits included such episodes as "Journey to Babel" and "Friday's Child" and Leonard Nimoy would praise her for broadening the back story of Mr. Spock's Vulcan culture. William Shatner, who starred as Capt. James T. Kirk, tweeted that Fontana was a "pioneer" and added that "her work will continue to influence for generations to come."

A native of Sussex, New Jersey, Fontana worked on a wide range of other TV shows, from "Bonanza" and "Ben Casey," along with "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: New Voyages." She also wrote the "Star Trek" novel "Vulcan's Glory," about Spock's first mission on the U.S.S. Enterprise.

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Trailblazing 'Star Trek' Writer D.C. Fontana Dies at 80: 'She Was a Pioneer'

Dorothy Catherine "D.C." Fontana is known for further developing the famous character, Spock

Dorothy Catherine Fontana, a writer on the original Star Trek series, has died. She was 80 years old.

Fontana, who went professionally by “D.C.,” passed away “peacefully” on Monday after fighting a brief illness, the American Film Institute, where she was a senior lecturer, announced Tuesday in a press release obtained by PEOPLE.

The writer is credited with developing the Spock character’s backstory and “expanding Vulcan culture,” SyFy reported of her massive contribution to the beloved sci-fi series. Fontana was the one who came up with Spock’s childhood history revealed in “Yesteryear,” an episode in Star Trek: The Animated Series , on which she was both the story editor and associate producer.

As the outlet pointed out, Fontana was also responsible for the characters of Spock’s parents, the Vulcan Sarek and human Amanda, who were introduced in the notable episode “Journey to Babel.”

In fact, Fontana herself said that she hopes to be remembered for bringing Spock to life.

“Primarily the development of Spock as a character and Vulcan as a history/background/culture from which he sprang,” she said in a 2013 interview published on the Star Trek official site, when asked what she thought her contributions to the series were.

With Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, she also penned the episode “Encounter at Farpoint,” which launched The Next Generation in 1987. The episode introduced Captain Picard, played by Patrick Stewart , and earned the writing pair a Hugo Award nomination.

Not only was Fontana responsible for creating much of Star Trek canon, she also “helped blaze a trail for female writers in sci-fi television,” the official website said in its obituary. “Fontana’s credits to Star Trek cannot be understated, both as a writer of great stories and as a trailblazer for other women.”

Fontana’s agent, Cary Kozlov, tells PEOPLE that while she is recognized as a trailblazer in the industry, she “considered herself a writer first and foremost.”

“I was Ms. Fontana’s film and TV literary agent for more than a dozen years,” Kozlov says. “Although, she has been often recognized as a trailblazer for women in screenwriting during a time when the industry was still considered strictly a ‘boys’ club, she usually would just shrug that off or the idea of a ‘glass-ceiling’ and never really embraced that when I’d raise the subject. For the most part, she just considered herself a writer first and foremost and just one of the guys. But deep down inside, I think Dorothy really enjoyed the recognition.

“I will miss her dearly not only as a client, but as a true friend,” Kozlov adds.

In the 2013 interview, Fontana said that though she was a writer in Hollywood in the 1960s, she didn’t necessarily think of herself as a rarity — but instead felt she was part of “an elite” group.

“At the time, I wasn’t especially aware there were so few female writers doing action adventure scripts,” she said. “There were plenty doing soaps, comedies, or on variety shows. By choosing to do action adventure, I was in an elite, very talented and very different group of women writers.”

RELATED VIDEO: William Shatner Believes Captain Kirk Would Be ‘Running Wild’ in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Star Trek’

And for her work in the genre, Fontana is remembered for breaking ground for women in science fiction.

William Shatner , who famously portrayed Captain James Kirk in the Star Trek universe, mourned the loss of Fontana on Twitter on Tuesday, calling her a “pioneer.”

“ She was a pioneer ,” he said. “Her work will continue to influence for generations to come.”

In addition to her many Star Trek contributions, Fontana’s writing credits include episodes on The Waltons , Bonanza , Babylon 5 and The Six Million Dollar Man.

The writer is survived by husband Dennis Skotak, Variety reported , and the family is asking that donations be sent to either the Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society or the American Film Institute in lieu of flowers.

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Star Trek   writer Dorothy Catherine "D.C." Fontana passed away on December 2nd. Fontana used her meaningful 80 years on earth to pave the way for female sci-fi TV writers. She not only wrote some of the most iconic episodes in the Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek Animated series, but also was the first female writer to join the  Star Trek  team.  She fought hard for her spot in Hollywood having to submit scripts as "D.C." to avoid gender discrimination. She linked up with Gene Rodenberry while working as a production secretary. Impressed with her work, he brought her on to write season 1 episode "Charlie X".

Thus, her career as a sci-fi TV writer was launched. Fontana proved her worth writing several episodes for  The Original Series  including "Journey to Babel". This episode is renowned for introducing Spock's parents and widened the show's universe to outside of the Enterprise, bringing emotional depth to its characters. She went on to write for the  Star Trek animated series , writing the episode "Yesteryear",  in which Spock time travels to save a younger version of himself. Her success lead to her landing a Hugo Award nomination for her work on Star Trek: The Next Generation 's pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint".

Related:  10 Classic Star Trek Characters That Deserve Their Own Show

According to THR , Fontana passed away Monday evening due to a short illness. Fontana was working as a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute, which initially reported her death as stated on the Star Trek site . She spent her time there mentoring aspiring screenwriters and passing on her impressive legacy. Fontana passed by the side of her husband, cinematographer Dennis Skotak. Her family requests that memorial donations be made to the Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society, or American Film Institute.

Fontana's TV writing career branched out beyond the  Star Trek  universe. She also wrote for  The Waltons ,  Bonanza ,  Babylon 5 , and  The Six Million Dollar Man , and was nominated for a WGA Award after writing  Then Came Bronson episode “Two Percent of Nothing". Fontana was honored by the WGA twice with the Morgan Cox Award, first in 1997 and then again in 2002.

She may not have entered Hollywood as a "female writer," but she left as an inspiring one. Sci-fi is often rendered as a male-dominated genre , yet she grabbed it by the horns. She wrote for a mostly male cast and her episodes gave these characters depth beyond typical sci-fi cliches. She opened the door for Margaret Armen, Jean Lisette Aroeste, Judy Burns, and future female writers to join the  Star Trek writing team. Hollywood has been forever impacted by the work of Fontana. Condolences to this brave, intelligent legend and her family.

RIP D.C. Fontana: March 25, 1939 - December 2, 2019

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Source: THR

DC Fontana, ‘Star Trek’ Writer, Dies at 80

Longtime “Trek” scribe responsible for crafting Vulcan history, writing “The Next Generation” pilot

D.C. Fontana, a longtime writer for various “Star Trek” series, has died. She was 80.

According to the official Star Trek website, Fontana died on Monday after a short illness.

Fontana is credited for writing many episodes of the original “Star Trek” series and was essential to creating the backstory and culture of Spock’s Vulcan heritage. Her credits include episodes like “Yesteryear” and “Journey to Babel,” which introduced Spock’s father Sarek and mother Amanda. She also co-wrote the Hugo Nominated “Next Generation” pilot “Encounter at Farpoint” with “Star Trek” creator Gene Rodenberry. She also wrote episodes for “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”

William Shatner, who portrayed Capt. Kirk on the original series, called Fontana a “pioneer” whose “work will continue to influence for generations to come.”

? She was a pioneer. Her work will continue to influence for generations to come. https://t.co/ajJ05liZM7 — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) December 3, 2019

Her last produced credit was an episode of the webseries “Star Trek: New Voyages,” starring Walter Koenig.

Fontana’s other credits include episodes of “The Waltons,” “Bonanza,” “Babylon 5,” and “The Six Million Dollar Man.” She was nominated for a WGA award for co-writing the episode “Two Percent of Nothing” for “Then Came Bronson.” Most recently, she worked as a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute.

Fontana is survived by her husband, Oscar-winning visual effects cinematographer Dennis Skotak, and her family wishes for memorial donations to be made to the Humane Society, the Best Friends Animal Society, or to the American Film Institute.